IBC Totes

[ericm979]

At $30 ea I'd buy a lot. The best price I've found locally is $60. I've for 8 set up for firewood and another as a man cage. I could use another 6-8 for firewood. Last winter I burned about 3 cords.

I cut the bladders up and heat form them to make rain covers. My covers are larger than most people's (I remove only one of the six sides) but they have enough air flow to evaporate any condensation and allow the wood to continue drying when conditions are right. Here we have a 6 month rainy season and a 6 month dry season. I take the covers off for the dry season. My firewood ends up nicely dry after a summer and stays dry in the winter with the rain covers. The cages get a door cut in them for easy stacking and removal of splits.

 

[caver]

I think I paid $10 for the one I bought and it was maybe 3 miles away at a place that wheels and deals with totes and 55 gallon drums.

 

[lilranch2001]

I got mine free, and could have gotten as many as I wanted, we would send them back ( for free) to be recycled when the next order arrived on the return truck.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Heck, $10 or "free" and I'd probably take a couple dozen.

Around here they start at $50 and are either 2 hrs or farther away, or full of waste oil, or beaten up frames.

The ones nearby are $60-$80. Not really interested at that price.

 

[PEJ5]

I cut them in half, screw them to a pallet and then fill them with chips from the chipper. I chip where the branches are and then move the chips to where I need them.

 

[dstig1]

I sold mine on CL. One couple bought 2 or 3 to cut up into some sort of garden beds, and the rest of the original 16 went to a guy who bought them to put into the empty cages that he had and then sold them as complete units. Now if I could have found that guy first, I could have just bought the cages alone... Talk about irony. I got $10-20 ea, IIRC and think I paid $60-80 ea complete.

 

[mikester]

Around here companies have to pay $60/ea tote for environmental disposal fees. Be very wary of what the totes contained prior to buying them. Some ignorant/untrustworthy individuals will sell you totes containing hazardous materials. I went to one sellers place of business who had hundreds of totes stacked out in his barn yard for sale. Walked down to where they were stored slipping and sliding on the goop that was leaking out of many of the totes with valves left partially open. The tanks all had MSDS labels with hazardous and carcinogenic warning labels. Seller told me he got the tanks from a company that used the stuff for cleaning printing presses. He claimed he didn't know what carcinogenic meant. Dumb bugger lived on the farm and drank his well water. He didn't want to believe me that he was contaminating not only his well but all his neighbour's wells too. Anything for a buck.

 

[dodge man]

The ones I bought had soybean and “other essential oils” in it. Kind of a pain to clean them out.

 

[Diggin It]

I still have the labels that came with mine. Some kind of soap/surfactant used to settle dust in mines.

 

[bunyip]

There was a case recently where someone lost quite a few cattle after filling up troughs with water from an IBC, can't remember what the chemical residue was but obviously nasty, prices vary from a reasonable AU$50 in very good condition to $200 for optomistic sellers.

 

[tomplum]

Same here. Prices they ask are nuts.

Fortunately i got one from my fertilizer supplier WITHOUT a bladder () for free.

I used it to make a storage cage for welding gas tanks.

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Consider the idea stolen! Actually for firewood to come up to the house. Too simple.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

About to go today to pick up 4 or 5. A guy about an hour from me is selling them for $25 each. WITHOUT bladders! Perfect!

 

[farmeratheart]

About to go today to pick up 4 or 5. A guy about an hour from me is selling them for $25 each. WITHOUT bladders! Perfect!

I would love to find that deal ... a little closer to home.

Frank

 

[deezler]

About to go today to pick up 4 or 5. A guy about an hour from me is selling them for $25 each. WITHOUT bladders! Perfect!

Get more than you think you'll need! As many as fit on your trailer, at that price.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Get more than you think you'll need! As many as fit on your trailer, at that price.

Unfortunately my trailer is only a 5x8. I think I can get 3 or 4 on the trailer stacked and 1 or 2 in bed of pickup. I already have 3 with bladders at my property. That should be plenty. I am not a 3 or 4 cord/year wood burner like you fellas up in the Great White North. SE TN does not get nearly as cold.

 

[deezler]

Sure, I neglected to consider your location in my response. But still, if you have more, you can fill them all up whenever you produce a big batch of firewood, and then never have to move the wood again (by hand, anyway) until you're ready to burn it. I got 12x totes on my 6x12 trailer, stacked two high. Unfortunately I didn't expect to burn through all 12 totes in a winter (sometimes do, sometimes don't - still have 9 full ones for this winter... we'll see).

 

[shooterdon]

Here is how I do firewood:

Less plastic to dump, more capacity and provides weather protection.

 

[OldMcDonald]

Provided you obtain tanks that have not contained anything too nasty, and do not need them all for firewood storage, then why not have some fun with fish and vegetables? Do what this Aussie bloke did How to Build an Aquaponic System - Chop & Flip IBC Build - YouTube

I followed his basic idea but used surplus wine fermenting tanks.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Here is how I do firewood:

Less plastic to dump, more capacity and provides weather protection.

View attachment 682465View attachment 682464View attachment 682466

To be honest after seeing Don's idea I wish mine came with the bladders!! Great idea! But complete totes with the bladder are $35 to $50 around here. Then you run into the nasty stuff/cleaning issue. So I will deal.

What are some ideas for weather protection on these things for the folks who lack bladders? I find that just laying a tarp over it does not work because as you pull wood out the tarp loses support. I want a stand alone structure (which is why I love Don's idea). I think I am going to make a very light gable roof that attatches to the top of the cage and use 6 mil plastic or some of that clear poly roofing. Any other ideas

I was able to get 6 totes on my truck and trailer (forgot to take a pic), that should do me for a while!!

 

[deezler]

Looks like I don't have a pic handy. But I store my IBC totes in an 8-pack, 2x4 configuration. In the middle of the stack, I have two old sheets of scrap plywood standing vertically. Then over the whole thing goes a 10x20 carport cover/tarp. The white one that is only $99 from harbor freight. The poles and supports gave up and snapped after the first few windstorms, but the tarp cover has held up pretty well. It has grommets all around the perimeter, so the original little bungie-cord loops that came it it work well to lash it down onto the tote frames. And the center plywood sheets hold the top up high for plenty of airflow underneath, and it sheds water and snow well.

I also have a couple pieces of 4x4' zip OSB sheathing that I can throw atop the totes individually for rain protection if they are left out in the weather somewhere. The primer coating on zip sheathing makes it last for years!

The next plan, hopefully this year, is to put up a basic metal carport that I can store them all under. Want maximum airflow for more rapid drying.